Virgin Community[/Communication] FAIL?

[777]

A lot of the bad press Virgin is getting around here is based on misinformation or partial information and confusion caused by the new booking system. Many of the things such as the lack of ability to improve seat selection for golds, glitches in how the web site works, actual future pricing on 2for1 tickets, confusion in whether connecting flights are priced correctly, whether WOAG fares have gone up or not, etc etc may or may not be the product of a plan but are just as likely simply transitional problems. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing.

The easiest way for Virgin to improve this would be to have a rep here who was publicly and quickly getting to the bottom of these issues and if not fixing them at least explain what is going on and what the long term plan might be.

Virgin through CrazyDave98 when he was there and Dean when he was the Virgin Australia social media guy did a lot of great work in keeping this community informed and through it the wider travelling community. It was a reason why i always felt confident with VA. VA used to run rings around Qantas in how responsive they were here and partially as a result a lot of very rusted on QF flyers have switched over fully or partially.

Am I the only one who thinks that Virgin's near total absence on these forums of late reflects very badly on them?

 

[nlagalle]

I wouldn't just limit it here.. They have been noticeably quiet on their Facebook page too. For a company that was so active to now being so quiet it isn't a good look, especially when there are so many different things flying around..

The 2for1 is one thing that is bothering me, and if the change is true I'll be canceling the card..

 

[777]

I wouldn't just limit it here.. They have been noticeably quiet on their Facebook page too. For a company that was so active to now being so quiet it isn't a good look, especially when there are so many different things flying around..

Agree. How hard would it be to simply have people acknowledge the problem, let us know that they are looking into them, report back with whatever confirmed information that they have or otherwise gently explain than the transition to sabre will likely mean days/ weeks/ months until full service is resumed?

THere is soooooo much unnecessary angst and misinformation at the moment.

 

[oz_mark]

They are making jetstar look good

 

[eastwest101]

Its almost like the entire VA Social Media team is either on holiday, or on a training course. I agree with you that a lot of the issues are likely to be explained by the gradual roll out of Sabre - but without the communication from VA it is all speculation and anyone's guess, as to how long it will take to sort out their numerous problems.

 

[moa999]

As is seemingly most of the IT team!

 

[lovestotravel]

Virgin do well at failing!

Their FB replies are a joke and they don't reply to all posts anymore

If you are going to bother with social media, you either do it properly, or not at all

As for a rep on here, it would be nice, but FB has 200,000+ "likes" here there are a few hundred or a few thousand people at best

That being said, the people on here combined probably spend more with Virgin than the 200,000 FB fans, who fly once a year....

 

[Mal]

Virgin do well at failing!

Do they? Or is that the usual line people trot out constantly when they dislike virgin?

Yes their social media responses currently suck, but if you were to look towards the teat of Qantas you would be sorely disappointed.

How about tiger, emirates, cathey etc. I see a great level of care from them.

 

[777]

Do they? Or is that the usual line people trot out constantly when they dislike virgin?

Yes their social media responses currently suck, but if you were to look towards the teat of Qantas you would be sorely disappointed.

How about tiger, emirates, cathey etc. I see a great level of care from them.

I hate to agree with lovestotravel but in this case the problem is that they have gone considerably backwards. (Recent glitches aside) In most areas of operations Virgin is on a clear arc of improvement but in social media communication they were clearly much better 6-12 months ago than they are now. Virgin were excellent at keeping people here and on FB informed about developments and explaining what was happening but around here they have simply stopped bothering. There is no excuse for not bothering.

 

[medhead]

I disagree about the lack of communication of Facebook. Maybe it has decreased over the last few days. But on the 15th of Jan, IIRC, I had a reply from them on FB at 00:30 odd on FB. I saw this when I got up at 4am to get a flight, replied and they then replied by the time I had my shower. That's pretty damn responsive to have people actively monitoring Facebook at 4am.

If that has dropped off I think the obvious explanation is that the switch to sabre has taken longer than expected and with bigger problems than expected. As such they have prioritised the issues and diverted resources to address the big problems. Social media team is probably also regenerating after seemingly working 24/7 for a week.

I think the sabre changeover also explains the big drop in quality of the call centre at the moment, they put on a heap of minimally trained temps.

My prediction is things will start to return to normal from, say, 4 Feb.

 

[haydensydney]

Keep in mind that AFF isn't a direct communication channel to VA so any input from the airline on here should be considered a 'bonus'.

If we are to compare, Qantas also hasn't had quite a stellar record with maintaining a presence on AFF - so it's not just VA.

 

[mannej]

Keep in mind that AFF isn't a direct communication channel to VA so any input from the airline on here should be considered a 'bonus'.

If we are to compare, Qantas also hasn't had quite a stellar record with maintaining a presence on AFF - so it's not just VA.

Red Roo has stayed here longer than what the Virgin rep has he not?

 

[haydensydney]

Red Roo has stayed here longer than what the Virgin rep has he not?

'Stayed here' meaning 'been here the longest'? If so, yes - agreed. But I don't know why longevity has anything to do with this discussion (which I believe is more to do with the quality of interaction).

I've found VA to be more interactive and proactive than Red Roo. Red Roo only appears when there is a big announcement then seems to disappear when tough questions get asked. I admit that the VA involvement on AFF has dropped somewhat - but it's still better than nothing.

 

[bcworld]

I disagree about the lack of communication of Facebook.

As do I. I think they are VERY active and quick to respond to constructive / polite posts on the Posts by Others section of their wall.

Where they are letting themselves down is by failing to acknowledge the ongoing issues via proactive posting on the Highlights wall - they haven't posted there for a week!. I also think it is definitely time for an email to all Velocity members, acknowledging that there are serious issues, apologising and at least an attempt to set minds at ease. Even SQ fell on their sword eventually...culturally it should be much easier for VA to do this.

 

[markis10]

Red Roo has stayed here longer than what the Virgin rep has he not?

Not quite correct:

Virgin Australia

Member Authenticated Company Rep Join Date Sep 2010 LocationBrisbane, Queensland Posts 332


vs


Red Roo

Member Authenticated Company Rep Join Date Oct 2010 LocationSydney Posts 351



And lets not forget Virgin is somewhat of a split personality:

Velocity Frequent Flyer

Member Authenticated Company Rep Join DateJul 2010 LocationBrisbane, QueenslandPosts 161


Clearly they have participated for a longer time and more often going by post count, of course recently it would be fair to say RedRoo is catching up

 

[mannej]

When was their last post?

 

[markis10]

When was their last post?

The user IDs were hotlinked for your convenience, given participation on this forum is voluntary their last post is somewhat irrelevant, both had activity this morning so its not like AFF is being ignored

 

[oz_mark]

I think the whole lack of communication thing with Virgin has been a let down, and I do wonder if they are being kept on a short leash at the moment. It does seem they have gone quiet on multiple fronts.

 

[777]

When was their last post?

18th of September.

The user IDs were hotlinked for your convenience, given participation on this forum is voluntary their last post is somewhat irrelevant, both had activity this morning so its not like AFF is being ignored

Actually it is totally relevant. The issue is the failure to communicate not the failure to listen.

In the time i have been part of this community Virgin Australia have slipped somehow from amongst the best companies i've seen at social media communications to utterly awful. I think it's a real shame and it is particularly noticeable at times like this when there is a great deal of doubt and uncertainty about their plans and intentions.

It would take very little effort to acknowledge and note the issues here, to provide general updates about the progress of migration, and to offer quick clarification on the difference between teething problems and major policy changes. It is a simple lost opportunity to head off frustration and engender good will.

 

[mannej]

Each rep have done things above and beyond what is expected, however Virgin have been quiet as of late.

You would have thought perhaps having someone on here during the change over to Sabre, as you can see the issues that have been faced.

Admittedly, over the other side the closure of the business lounges over Christmas wasn't handled particularly well was it?